Chapter 49: Cold Fire
The dreams started with her voice.
Not Selene as she was — sharp, quiet, devastating in her stillness — but the version Aria's body conjured when her mind lost its grip. A darker Selene. Mouth colder. Touch crueler. More shadow than woman. In the dreams, Selene didn't ask. She didn't wait.
She hunted.
And Aria offered herself like prey who wanted to be caught.
Morning dragged itself into the house like fog under a door — low, thick, reluctant. Rain had dissolved into mist overnight, and now it clung to the windows like breath. The trees outside blurred, soft and spectral, like the whole forest had exhaled and decided to forget itself.
Inside, the silence was heavier.
No birdsong. No footfalls. Not even the creak of the old wooden frame.
Just the echo of breathless need and a warmth that refused to cool.
Aria lay tangled in her sheets, her skin clammy with sweat, her thighs pressed tight around the ghost of a touch. Her nightshirt clung to her back, soaked. Her underwear — if she could even still call it that — was soaked for a different reason entirely.
She stared at the ceiling, panting, wide-eyed, pulse hammering. Her fingers hovered just below her navel, shaking slightly.
She hadn't meant to —
It had just happened.
Again.
Her hips had moved on their own, grinding into the mattress, breath catching in short, bitten - off moans. She hadn't even fully woken up before the tremor hit her. Too sharp. Too real. Her lips had formed a name before her thoughts could catch it.
Selene.
Whispered.
Begged.
Her thighs still quivered.
She peeled herself out of bed like a girl coming down from fever. Her legs were shaky. Her chest felt tight. Her whole body ached — not from pain, but from the unbearable almost of release that didn't satisfy anything deeper. It was worse than hunger. More ancient. Like a thirst she couldn't drink away.
She showered too long. Scrubbed too hard. Nothing helped.
Even when she pulled on clean clothes — fresh cotton tee, soft joggers — she still felt it under her skin.
The wanting.
And downstairs, Selene was already waiting.
Always waiting.
Always composed.
She stood barefoot in the kitchen, damp hair tied up in a lazy knot, sleeves rolled past her elbows as she sliced an apple with a knife too sharp for breakfast. She wore an old hoodie, sleeves pushed up, low - rise cargo pants hanging scandalously off one hip like they had no idea how good she looked.
Aria paused in the doorway, heartbeat spiking. She should've said something.
But Selene turned without needing a sound.
"You're late," she said coolly, not looking up from the cutting board. "Bad dreams?"
Aria swallowed. "Didn't sleep."
Selene's mouth curved — not a smile. Just the hint of one.
"You moaned."
Aria stiffened. "No, I didn't."
"Mmm." Selene plucked an apple slice and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "You said my name. Twice. Whispered like prayer. Third time, you begged."
Aria flushed scarlet. "You were awake?"
"You think I wouldn't be?" Selene leaned her hip against the counter, turning now. "You thrash when you're close. You grind your hips like you're possessed. Hard to miss."
Aria looked away, lips pressed tight. "That's… that's private."
Selene sauntered over, unhurried, every step more predatory than polite. "Nothing about you is private, little flame. Not when your soul cries out like that."
Aria stiffened. "It wasn't on purpose. I didn't —"
"You did." Selene was in front of her now. Too close. Always too close. "Even in sleep, you seek me."
Aria held her ground, barely.
"You keep doing this," she whispered. "Messing with me. Making me feel things —"
"I haven't even touched you." Selene tilted her head. "That's the problem, isn't it?"
"I didn't ask for this," Aria snapped, desperate for footing, some leverage, something.
"You didn't have to." Selene's voice dropped, velvet over steel. "It's already inside you."
"What is?" Aria whispered.
Selene reached out and brushed a knuckle down Aria's jaw. Her touch was cold, delicate, maddening.
"The truth."
Aria's breath stuttered.
"You're not fully human, Aria," Selene said. "Not anymore."
She couldn't look away. Her body didn't want to.
"There's power sleeping inside you," Selene continued. "Deep. Old. Seductive. You've been feeding off me for weeks without knowing it. Every glance, every breath, every dream. It's waking you."
Aria stepped back. Her spine hit the wall.
"No."
"Yes." Selene didn't follow. Just stood, watching her unravel. "Succubi don't awaken like others. It begins with craving. With obsession. With dreams that blur the line between wanting and surrender."
"You're lying," Aria breathed. "I'm not — I can't be —"
Selene stepped closer, closing the space again.
"You smell different after you dream. Your aura shifts. The moment I walk into a room, your pulse changes. I don't need to touch you to feel how badly you need it."
"I don't —"
"You do." Selene leaned in, her lips grazing the shell of Aria's ear. "Your thighs clenched just now. Didn't they?"
Aria whimpered.
Selene drew back to look at her face. "You want control, but your body wants to give it up. You want safety — but you ache for danger. For power. For submission."
Aria stared at her, trembling.
"I can't fix this," she whispered. "I don't even understand it —"
Selene cupped her cheek, fingers cool and steady. "I'm not here to fix you, Aria. I'm here because I'm the only one who can take that hunger and teach you how to survive it."
Aria's knees almost buckled.
Selene didn't press further.
She just tilted her head again, studying her like something half - carved and unfinished.
"I won't take you," she murmured. "Not until you ask. Not until you beg."
"I won't."
"You will," Selene said gently. "Because you already are."
Her thumb traced the edge of Aria's lower lip.
"Last night, when you whispered my name… you didn't sound afraid. You sounded desperate."
Aria bit her lip, hard, and Selene's eyes flicked down with interest.
"You like the ache, don't you?" Selene teased, tone lighter now, almost playful. "That burn low in your belly. The way it hums when I speak to you like this. Do you feel it now?"
Aria nodded before she could stop herself. Just barely.
Selene chuckled — low, amused, dark. "Oh, little flame. You're already mine."
Aria wanted to say no.
She really did.
But her body betrayed her with every breath.
Selene brushed her lips against Aria's cheek — barely a kiss. Not even a promise.
Just a warning.
Then she stepped back and turned toward the stove.
"Eat something. You'll need your strength."
"For what?" Aria asked, dazed.
"Dreams," Selene said over her shoulder. "They're not finished with you yet."
Aria slumped against the wall, heart racing, legs weak.
This wasn't a seduction.
It was a reckoning.
And she didn't want to run anymore.
Because the part of her that was waking… wanted to burn.
And Selene —
Selene was the cold fire waiting to claim her.